Torts and Sports: Legal Liability in Professional and Amateur Athletics

the Billy Martin-Earl Weaver-type tantrum, in which the umpire has dirt
kicked upon him or tobacco juice sprayed in his face;

d.

the "spikes-up" slide;

e.

the "cheap-shot" in football, where a player is hit either out-of-bounds or
after the whistle;

f.

the "clean but brutal" hit, where the tackler intends to cripple a vulnerable opponent, à la Jack Tatum-Daryl Stingley;

g.

the "low bridge" in basketball, where the perpetrator runs under the airborne opponent;

h.

the "gloves off" hockey fight.

6.

One point is clear. The sports participant does not enjoy talismanic immunity from tort liability, the comments of Judge Matsch in Hackbart I to the contrary notwithstanding. The obvious goal of any
practitioner is to distinguish those cases that have a reasonable chance
for success from those that do not. The materials in this chapter are,
ultimately, designed to assist the practitioner in drawing that distinction. It does appear, however, that sports activity is one area of human
behavior where the participants are indeed insulated from liability for
ordinary negligence. Perhaps this is one thing that makes sports a special and unique form of human experience--participants are free to be
unreasonable (but not reckless).

Print this page

While we understand printed pages are helpful to our users, this limitation is necessary
to help protect our publishers' copyrighted material and prevent its unlawful distribution.
We are sorry for any inconvenience.